The Chancellor Rishi Sunak is to deliver his Spring Statement to the House of Commons tomorrow Wednesday 23 March and ahead of this Dorset Chamber has put forward its hopes in these challenging times.

Chief executive Ian Girling said: “Businesses are crying out for decisive action from the Chancellor.

“Having faced some of the most challenging trading conditions imaginable over the past two years, businesses in Dorset must now contend with rising inflation, runaway energy bills, soaring costs and an impending National Insurance increase.

“There’s growing economic uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine and businesses are also braced for upward pressure on wages as inflation bites and employees begin feel the impact of sustained increases in living costs.

“Tax increases which further raise the cost of doing business will place a crippling burden on some firms, weaken the UK’s growth prospects and badly undermine confidence.

“Businesses in Dorset are resilient but they need the government to help shield them from some of the worst effects of the costs crisis so they can keep a lid on prices, protect jobs and sustain the local economy.

“The Dorset Chamber is behind the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) ‘five point plan to tackle the cost of doing business crisis’.

“This includes delaying the impending National Insurance rise by a year and a temporary energy price cap for small businesses.

“We also call for additional financial support on energy costs for small firms and energy extensive businesses plus a six-month extension to the Recovery Loan Scheme, leaving it in place until the end of 2022.

“There must be a moratorium, for the life of this parliament, on all policy measures that increase business costs, including no new business taxes or added regulatory burdens.

“We also wish to see a commitment from the government’s Supply Chain Advisory Group and Industry Taskforce to continue to work with industry to urgently deliver practical solutions to ease the supply chain disruption and labour shortages that continue to drive the upward pressure on prices.”